Inflated bath or boudoir pillow



Dec. 17, 1968 w. M. EMERY 3,416,169

INFLATED BATH 0R BOUDOIR PILLOW Filed April 7, 1.967 2 SheetsSheet lFIG.I

M/l/E/VTOR W.M.EMERY INFLATED BATH OR BOUDOIR PILLOW Dec. 17, 1968 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 7, 1967 FIG. 4

United States Patent 3,416,169 INFLATED BATH 0R BOUDOIR PILLOW WilliamM. Emery, 44 Pittsford Way, New Providence, NJ. 07974 Filed Apr. 7,1967, Ser. No. 629,198 10 Claims. (Cl. -337) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREInflated pillow substantially symmetrical about its vertical andhorizontal center lines with circular and radiating lobes including thespacing of its circumcenter from juncture of center lines to provide awedgelike cross section. Excess material relatively free of or withoutstress in the center area resulting from shortening of said peripheryincident to inflation of lobes, and the location of interconnectingpneumatic passageways in said area.

The applicant has been active in the art of inflatable pillows includingbath pillows for ten years as evidenced by the patents in the art issuedto him. He does not know of any inflatable pillows circular in elevationwith radiating lobes symmetrically indexed roundabout and relative toits center.

Inflatables represent an art distinct from stufled pillows and haveseparate problems and design limitations due to, the distortion of flatsheets into bulbousness resulting from inflation, the stress of thehermetically sealed sheet especially adjacent to the seals, the inherentweakness and tendency to failure where seals terminate even for shortdistances to allow for interconnecting air passageways necessary forgeneral inflation. Accordingly, it is a radical advancement in the artto provide areas of excess material and accordingly areas of little orno inflation of stress and said sheeting for the location of saidpassageways. The larger and more bulbous areas of the lobes produce thegreatest stresses at points adjacent thereto. Such stresses are due notonly to the air pressure of the original inflation, but also to pressureexternally applied incident to use. These factors would not occur instuflFed pillows even though they were partially heat sealed instead ofbeing sewed which latter is more conventional.

My circular and doubly symmetrical arrangement has distinct advantagesbecause of the above factors, but also for the comfortable support ofthe head and shoulders and the location of the suction cups.

Objects of my invention and its inventive concept include the beneficialutilization of the above factors and unique characteristics ofinflatables. Other objects and the successful accomplishment of them byunique means and design will be obvious from the followingspecification, claims and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a rear elevation of my invention before inflation,

FIG. 2 is a front elevation after inflation,

FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of FIG. 2.

Shown in FIGURES l and 2 is an inflatable embodiment of my cushion whichis formed with a flat back sheet of vinyl 11 and a front sheet 12,hermetically heat sealed together between the slightly spaced doublelines shown throughout the drawings similar to 13. These lines representwhat is conventionally known as a bar seal. Uniquely all my seal linesare curved, none are straight. A concave seal defining a large lobe isthe strongest shape and will carry maximum stress with less failure thana straight seal. Segments of which, later described, are shown only inFIGURE 1.

On either side of the upper part of the vertical hypothetical centerline 15 is a narrow inflated area or valley 16 and symmetricallyarranged on either side thereof are two large bulbous or semisphericallobes 17 and 17' adjoined or paired with only slightly smaller butotherwise substantially similar bulbous sections 19-19. 17 and 19considered together are example of a bilobal arrangement.

A horizontal center line 25 crosses near the mid-section of center line15 and on both sides and ends of center line 25 are relatively narrowinflated areas or valleys 26 and 26'. Bulbous areas 27 and 27 on thelower side of centerline 25 are substantially symmetrical with 19 and19' but smaller.

On either side of the lower part of center line 15 is a narrow inflatedarea or valley 36. Bulbous sections 39 and 39' are symmetrical withreference to center line 15 and substantially similar to bulboussections 27 and 27' but smaller. In summary, 17 and 17 are the largest,39 and 39 are the smallest and 19-19', 2727' are graduated in sizetherebetween.

It will be noted that extremities of arcs 18, 20, 28 and 40 and theircounterparts 18, 20', 28' and 40' are adjacent or integral with asubstantially circular periphery having its center at 50 whereas thevertical center line 15 and the horizontal center line 25 are normal toeach other and cross at a point 51 which may be spaced somewhat belowperiphery center 50 on center line 15 which produces the graduated sizesof bulbous sections 17, 19, 27 and 29. This is due to the verticalspacing of centers 50 and 51. This uniquely gives a substantiallycircular pillow with contours radiating from its center a wedge shapedcross-section, thus providing extra strength and cushioning to supportthe head of the user while its lower parts take a minimum space in alocation where space is at a premium because of the slope of the end ofa conventional tub.

While I show an inflatable cushion having eight bulbous or lobularsections or four bilobular sections radiating toward a circularperiphery and inscribable therein from a center which is substantiallythe center of said periphery, it is obvious that six or more sections,or three or more bilobular sections could be substituted withoutdeparture from my symmetrical arrangement or invention and likewise thespacing of centers 50 and 51 could be varied, likewise the center lines15 and 25 could be diagonal instead of vertical and horizontal.

Radiating lobes 17, 19, 27, 29 and their symmetrical counterparts arepositioned roundabout and substantially indexed relative to the center50 as shown or optionally 51 or centers 50 and 51 if they coincide. Allthese variations are within the scope of my present invention andclaims.

A bulbous center 55 centered at the juncture of center lines 15 and 25is defined by circular seal 53, made up of segments 60, 61, 62, 63, 60',61, 62' and 63 forming pneumatic air passages 56, 57, 58, 59, 56', 57',58' and 59' therebetween respectively.

When cushion 10 is inflated through air valve 83, air passes freelythrough enough of the alternate passageways just described to inflatethe bulbous and narrower inflated sections previously identified.

Upon inflation, sheeting 11 and 12 is stressed because while originallyflat the sheets are distorted by air pressure, take on semispherical orcylindrical shapes, and the larger the diameter the greater is thestress. These stresses tend to concentrate at the seal which is also theweakest point of the sheet. When lobes such as 17, 19, 27 and 39 becomebulbous, the circumference or periphery and accordingly the diameter ofmy pillow becomes shorter because the major cord of the uninflated lobesbecomes half of the circumference of the inflated lobes. All this I havepurposely incorporated in my plan and utilized O in my design and thisresults in an accumulation of excess sheeting material under onlyslight, minimum or no stress toward the central area of the pillow. Thepoints of ultimate fracture and weakness in most inflatables usuallyoccur where the bar seal is interrupted or deviated to allow for theentrance of air passageways such as 56, 57 or 80 if they occur where thesheeting material is under normal stress. Since my unique design concentrates excess material in its central area, I locate allinterconnecting air passageways in that area thereby greatly increasingthe durability of my product. I do not know of this ever having beendone effectively before.

Although this area of excess or accumulated material is pneumaticallyinterconnected with the inflated radial lobes and other inflated parts,and although pressures in a liquid or gas are, according to the laws ofphysics equally distributed in all directions, in my invention said areaappears to be quite uninflated and certainly is unstressed by inflationin contradistinction to the radial lobes.

This central accumulation of excess sheeting is accentuated and possiblydependent on the fact that my lobes radiate from the center increasingin diameter as they extend toward the periphery.

Such excess generally results in unpredictable folding and creasing. Ido not attempt to show this in the drawings because of unpredictablevariation from pillow to pillow. For the first time, however, I havedeliberately designed adjacent passageways and segments such as 56, 56',60, 67, 77, 79 and 80 to tend to produce four symmetrical radiatingshapes 84, FIG. 2.

I include in my meaning of circular, circumferential, circumperiphery,etc., any substantially oval variations which would react in much thesame way.

Three suction cups 85, 86 and 87 are located near the periphery whichwould be the sides and bottom and most immersed portion of my bathpillow when in use, and one cup 88 is in the point of section 16 nearestthe bulbous center 55 which would be the highest of all the cups when inuse. When subject to buoyancy, cushion 10 naturally folds along itscenter lines until the bulbous sections contact. By placing suction cupsnear the periphery I avoid this. To allow bulbous sections 17 and 17 toextend upward above the rim of tub and because they are never submerged,and because 19 and 19 are held flat by cups 85 and 87, cup 88 ispositioned closer to center 50 or can be omitted.

The most comfortable position for the nape area of the head is in valley16 between 17 and 17' which usually brings the shoulders adjacent tovalley areas 26 and 26 and the bottom of the cushion adjacent to thesmall of the back. This may vary somewhat with the position and size ofthe user and the depth of the tub.

As previously suggested variations are possible without departure fromthe essentials and scope of my invention, accordingly, I claim:

1. An inflatable pillow comprising a center, a plurality of inflatedlobes radiating away from said center, a hermetically sealed peripherysubstantially circular relative to said center substantially integralwith at least part of the far ends of said radiating lobes, and an areaapparently uninflated although pneumatically connected with said lobesspaced about said center adjacent to the inner ends of said lobes, dueto a central concentration of excess material incident to the reductionin said periphery and accordingly the plane area of the pillow resultinglargely from the inflation of said radically disposed lobes.

2. An inflatable pillow as set forth in claim 1, wherein said inflatedlobes are bilobal.

3. An inflatable pillow as set forth in claim 1, wherein said radiatinglobes are positioned relative to two center lines normal to each otherand which intersect substantially at said center.

4. An inflatable pillow as set forth in claim 1, wherein said center isinflated.

5. An inflatable pillow as set forth in claim 1, wherein pneumaticinterconnections between the inflated lobes are positioned in said area.

6. A hermetically sealed inflatable bath pillow, comprising asubstantially circular periphery, a substantially centered centerportion pertaining to said substantially circular periphery, a pluralityof radial lobes each indexed relative to and positioned roundabount andaway from said center portion with the larger ends of said lobesadjacent to said periphery, and a plurality of suction cups positionedbetween said lobes and attached to the back of said pillow, one of saidcups being spaced much closer to said center portion while the other ofsaid cups are positioned much closer to the portion of said periphery atthe bottom and sides of the bath pillow when in use.

7. A bath pillow as set forth in claim 6, whererin said center portionpertaining to the substantially circular periphery is offset from asecond center from which said lobes radiate thereby eflecting morebulbous lobes on one side of said periphery than the other andaccordingly giving said pillow a wedge-like cross section.

8. A bath pillow as set forth in claim 6, wherein said center portion isinflated.

' 9. A bath pillow as set forth in claim 6, wherein said lobes areinflated.

10. A bath pillow as set forth in claim 9, wherein said lobes are fourin number and symmetrical on either side of a center line passingapproximately through said center portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1956 Emery 5-338 2/1966 Emery5338 XR US. Cl. X.R.

